1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally a disk drive carriage assembly for computer disk drives and, more particularly, it relates to a disk drive carriage assembly for computer disk drives which has a carriage movable along a guiding structure with a plurality of spherical balls between the carriage and the guiding structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical computer disk drive includes a spindle motor for rotating one or more magnetic disks on which data is stored, one or more read/write heads for reading data from and writing data on the disk(s). The disk drive further includes an actuator assembly for positioning the read/write heads relative to the disk(s) and a housing in which the various components are mounted.
Concerning the actuator assembly, a typical actuator assembly includes an actuator motor and a carriage assembly, the carriage assembly having a movable carriage on which the read/write heads are mounted (typically by support arms or flexures) and a guiding structure on which the movable carriage is supported for guiding the movement of the carriage. The guiding structure is fixed to the disk drive housing. In response to electronic signals from the host computer, the actuator motor imparts a motive force to the movable carriage portion of the actuator assembly, thereby moving the movable carriage relative to the guiding structure on which it is supported and positioning the read/write heads over the appropriate tracks on the disk(s).
Various arrangements are used for mounting the movable carriage on the guiding structure. One typical arrangement, for example, is for the actuator assembly to have a number of radial bearing assemblies, the inner races of the bearing assemblies being fixed on spindles attached to the carriage and the outer races of the bearing assemblies being positioned on corresponding guide rails fixed relative to the disk drive housing, so that the bearing assemblies roll along the guide rails. Another way is for the carriage to have one or more sliding bushings attached to it, the bushings in turn being mounted on guide rails fixed with respect to the housing, so that the sliding bushings slide along the guide rails.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved disk drive carriage assembly that provides a cost effective arrangement and accurate and stable read/write head positioning.